Often I will compose a painting and then take reference photos, or look up stuff on the 'net to get the specifics right. I seldom paint a photo in it's entirety, even if I took it, and never if I didn't.
My cards and prints are availble on Etsy. I'm posting more choices for you every day.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Sophie's Serenade
Often I will compose a painting and then take reference photos, or look up stuff on the 'net to get the specifics right. I seldom paint a photo in it's entirety, even if I took it, and never if I didn't.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Red Carnations
Unable to Make Comments?
Thanks so much!
Leslie
Beach Retreat
I think my best paintings are either very loose or very tight. In-between seems to not work as well.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Gathering
SOLD Thanks J.E.
This painting was made after a Gathering at our house; there are usually twelve of us. It was interesting to me that everyone in the painting could be identified by the group. A few tiny brush-strokes can say so much; a good thing for this painter to remember.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Morning Mist
Actually I did paint today! A dusty rose all over the walls of a friend's rental in Ashland. I am part of a group called WHOW (Women Helping Other Women) which is a labor bank where we trade time doing work parties. It's fun and efficient and I've been part of it for about 4 years.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Rollercoaster Morning
Did I say painting flowers is fun? The carnations were not the problem here, but my husband's little ceramic jug. His work is wonderful, but I have never been able to paint its high texture and matte finish. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Cloudy Skies, Sunny Flowers
miserably.
These sunny Marigolds graced our large veggie garden last summer and the old camp coffee pot made a nice foil for their vibrant color. Flowers are fun to paint. Perhaps tomorrow I will have a go at Dennis' gift of red carnations which I found all over the house and studio on Valentine's Day morning.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Sunny Days
We will be away for a couple of days, so I will post again on Monday.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Girl with the Heart Earring
I sold a painting out of my studio a while back, but realized at the last minute it was not signed. "Oh, just put your name on it quick so I can take it." said The Buyer, and The Painter said "Sorry, it's not that easy. I'll bring it to you tomorrow." The Buyer was very perplexed, but I explained that the signature on a painting affects the whole composition and sometimes I sign a painting a half-dozen times before I think it looks OK. This portrait is a case in point; I feel like the signature in the lower right keeps the yellow band from just flowing off the bottom. As you can see in the earlier version, there was a dark shape there which I thought was distracting- my name seems to be enough.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Amaryllis
I was concentrating on not drawing with the paint, but instead finding the forms and values, seeing the abstract shapes which eventually start to look like something. My inner referee kept shouting STOP! STOP! I hope I did in time. I left the time stamps on so you could see how long each phase took. If you click to the enlargements you can see: 2 hours start to finish. About an hour longer than I'd intended to spend...
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Thinking Back..
Friday, February 8, 2008
Poems and Paintings
The last poetry reading we attended was by Ted Kooser and hearing him read the poem below resulted in the little picture after it.
Dishwater
Slap of the screen door, flat knock
of my grandmother's boxy black shoes
on the wooden stoop, the hush and sweep
of her knob-kneed, cotton-aproned stride
out to the edge and then, toed in
with a furious twist and heave,
a bridge that leaps from her hot red hands
and hangs there shining for fifty years
over the mystified chickens,
over the swaying nettles, the ragweed,
the clay slope down to the creek,
over the redwing blackbirds in the tops
of the willows, a glorious rainbow
with an empty dishpan swinging at one end.
Must go paint, or ??...
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
My daughter is engaged!
Yesterday morning my daughter called to tell us she is engaged- officially, with a diamond ring even! We are thrilled! This has been a while in coming, as she and her sweetie have been together for about three years.
The painting swelled right up out of my heart an hour or two after she called. I did it quickly on a scrap of loose primed canvas. You can see the charcoal marks that will be the edge of the 6x8" canvas once it is stretched, but I share it here with the rough edges that sort of add to the euphoria. I wanted to paint her radiantly happy, and even though she may not choose to wear a white veil, it was my vision of her as a beautiful bride.
Remember Summer?
"Cutting Lavender” 6×8 oil on canvas $96 SOLD- Thanks, L.B.
So here is a bit of sunshine and lovely scent just for a little relief. Lavender grows well during our hot, dry summers and every year there is a local cutting party where we can join our neighbors for a pot luck dinner and gather as much lavender as we wish, before they harvest for oil. I snapped a photo of our friend Amy and it became one of my daily paintings last November, which I am publishing now without any order except my whim. Enjoy!
Monday, February 4, 2008
A Snowy Winter
The paintings I am sharing with you in this blog are the result of short, enjoyable sessions where I just paint whatever strikes me. I have not done this much, as I usually feel the need to have a Big Idea painting going that will take me many weeks to complete and is destined for a scheduled show or our annual sale. Doing big paintings can get to be a slog, so the discovery of a small format has been very liberating! More doing and less thinking.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
I'm not sure about this...
Doing a painting a day is certainly nothing new. It’s no secret that the way to get better at painting is to paint often - as in, every day.
But what is new is that an artist nowadays can paint everyday and also exhibit everyday, via a blog or website.
I’m not sure about this idea. For one thing, time on the computer is not time painting. But unless you have a job other than making art, it’s important to make an effort to sell what you make, so I guess I’ll have a go at adding a blog to our web presence.
Besides, it might be sort of fun to share some of my ideas with you. I’ve been taking photos of paintings as they progress and from time to time I might include that process. I’ve also started a small painting class (and I can tell already that I will learn more by teaching than I might as a student) so perhaps some of that experience will show up here.
For the next few days I will post some of the daily paintings I did last November, and who knows? maybe I’ll get back in the swing of it…
Looks like it may snow again tonight.
Stay warm,
Leslie